Attachment 3: Survey invitation, first mail reminder

Attachment 3—First Mail Reminder

[PRINT ON RAND LETTERHEAD]

[Mailed ~ 2 weeks after web survey invitation letter is mailed,

will be accompanied by hard copy of the survey]

Dear Participant:

We recently sent you a letter inviting you to complete the Survey of Hospital Quality Leaders sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). To date, we have not received your completed survey. We are enclosing a hard copy of the survey and requesting that you complete the survey before [DATE].

The Survey of Hospital Quality Leaders is focused on understanding the ways in which hospitals collect HCAHPS and other patient experience data, identifying the types of quality improvement activities hospitals implement to improve HCAHPS scores, and understanding hospitals’ perceptions of HCAHPS.

We would like the survey to be completed by the senior-level administrator or leader within your hospital with primary leadership responsibility for patient experience or patient satisfaction. Please let us know if you are the appropriate person to answer these questions. If you think we should talk with someone else, please provide the name and contact information for that person.

Your participation is very important to ensure that a variety of perspectives are represented.

Completing the survey will take approximately 30 to 40 minutes. You may need to consult with others in your organization to complete the survey. To complete the survey online, please go to the following URL and enter your PIN:

[URL to be determined]

PIN: XXXX

You may complete the online survey in different sessions. Remember to save your responses and to log back in later to complete any pending questions. When you log back in, you will be taken to the last unanswered question.

All of the information you provide will be held in confidence by the RAND Corporation. RAND will combine your survey answers with the answers from other hospitals that complete the survey and will produce only summary results across all hospitals. When presenting survey results, RAND will not include your name or any other information that could identify you or your hospital. Please note that:

• Your hospital’s participation in the survey is voluntary.

• Your decision to participate or not to participate will have no effect on you or the relationship between your organization and AHRQ.

• You can skip any question you do not want to answer.

• RAND will not share your information with anyone, except as required by law.

• RAND will not share your individual responses with your employer or with AHRQ.

As a token of our thanks, we will send you a $50 gift card for participating in this research. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the survey, or if you would like to receive a hard copy of the survey, please contact [Contact person], the Survey Director for this project at RAND, at [email address] or at [phone number]. If you have any questions about your rights as a research subject, please contact the RAND Human Subject’s Protection Committee at 310-393-0411, ext. 7173, and ask to speak to Jim Tebow.

Thank you, in advance, for your help with this important survey!

Sincerely,

[RAND researcher]